Former 49ers quarterback Trey Lance sits on the sideline during a preseason NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, in Santa Clara, Calif.
Scot Tucker/AP
Except to longtime NFL insider Peter King, who absolutely hated the trade. He devoted a long section of his Monday morning column to blasting the move.
“I really don’t get that,” King wrote of Shanahan preferring Darnold and Brandon Allen to Lance.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Adam Schefter compared Lance to a dog in need of a new home; King compared Lance to a trashed beater. “It’s a terrible return, even for this damaged used car,” he said.
King added that 49ers owner Jed York needs to put “guardrails” on Shanahan after the debacle, and that, to be fair, he also didn’t like the trade for the Cowboys, who have two entrenched QBs of their own.
But — understandably — he just could not get over Shanahan jettisoning Lance and rocking with Darnold and Allen behind Brock Purdy.
“With what’s at stake, it stuns me he’d rather have Brandon Allen as his insurance policy than the guy he judged to have franchise talent two years ago,” King wrote. “If I’m a Niners fan, it worries me too. This feels too knee-jerk, impatient to the max. And it puts tremendous pressure on Purdy to play as he did in his magical eight-game run last season. To me, this was a trade that didn’t need to be made. And shouldn’t have been made.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
As King pointed out, Allen has not exactly lit the NFL on fire, completing 57% of his passes since entering the league in 2019. Lance’s departure raises the same questions as his arrival: Why now? Is that urgency really necessary? Those questions will fade into the background if Purdy plays at the same electric level he debuted at last year; Shanahan and John Lynch seem ultra-confident that he will. No pressure.